Grown-Ups

I meet a lot of people who only thinks of kids’ safety when they see our safety reflectors. We see a many grown-ups who also would have some good use of safety reflectors.( And we actually have safety reflectors that are popular with teens and adults. ) Here is one example:

Last Friday night at 6.30, I drove my kids around. You know, picking up one here, dropping off the other one there and still make it to the jump-off of the basketball game of the third. There had been flurries in the air since lunch time so the highway way was slushy and slippery. Ten minutes earlier, at the intersection of two IL state highways, it was so slippery, I couldn’t get the car to stop until several feet past the stop line. Pretty scary considering I was only going 20 mph.

In the middle of the high way, I saw a guy, but only as a dim shadow against the glare from oncoming traffic. He crossed the four-lane highway with a cup in his hand, dressed all in dark. He stopped at the painted median strip, which is also used as a turn lane. That’s where I passed him. I hope he made it over to his car on the other side despite the fact* that:

– more accidents happen in the middle of the block than at intersections (73%)

– more accidents happen during the dark hours than at day light (69%)

– the road was very slippery and it was difficult to stop even at low speed

– visibility was poor

– it was Friday night rush hour traffic (23% more accidents occur on Fridays and Saturdays than on other other weekdays)

– he’s a man (70%)

I wish I had a video or photo of what I saw, but  I didn’t want to lower this guy’s odds even more by being a distracted driver… Take a peak at the photos below and imagine snow slush on the road, snow flakes on your windshield and two more lanes.

I might just be paranoid, but I think I would have walked the extra 300 feet to the intersection and traffic lights and crosswalk. I also wear pedestrian safety reflectors, several if the weather is this bad. After all, every day, 11 pedestrians get killed in traffic and many more injured. For me, it is more important to see my family again than trying to save a minute or two… What would you have done?

Elisabeth

* The numbers are taken from 2009 data, analyzed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, http://www.iihs.org